1. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years a considerable demand has developed for flexible fabrics having conductive properties for such uses as EMI shielding, static interception and general electrical conduction. Heretofore, conductive fabrics have been prepared by several processes such as electro plating, vapor deposition, electron beam deposition and magnetron sputtering. While each of these processes may be particularly effective for developing an electrically conductive surface on different types of articles, including fabrics, the cost of preparing an electrically conductive fabric, by even the most efficient of these prior art methods, is quite high, i.e. of the order of $15.00 per square foot. Such high cost tends to limit the use of conductive fabrics to applications where such fabrics are absolutely necessary. In such applications where many square yards of fabric are required, such as in a tent, the high cost of producing an electrically conductive fabric constitutes a matter of important economic concern.
What has been needed, therefore, is some method of producing an electrically conductive fabric at a substantially lesser cost than is possible with any of the prior art methods.